Dungeoneering 101 Chapter 1: Dungeon Basics

March 5, 2019 (updated 2 years ago) by

Evilagician,

Ylva,

Welcome on the 1st chapter of dungeoneering. This chapter will focus on key basics in dungeon creation.

For the player, by the player!

The most important aspect of creating dungeons is the ability to create something that you would love to see and run through yourself. But there are a few things to keep in mind as your dungeon has to be playable for both new players and more expierenced ones.

Dungeon Size

A few things will change depending on a type, but there is no real difference in difficulty. Yes, Lairs are smaller, but this also requires you to be creative with the limited room you have.

Note: All example/screenshots are made in Qubicle. But you can create dungeons in any editor.

Warning: all mentions of Lairs are refering to 1-star Dungeons

Let start with sizes on the flat axes.

1-star dungeons (lairs) have a 39x39 square base as the maximum ground dimension.
3-star dungeons have a 125x125 square base as the maximum ground dimensions.
5-star dungeons have same 125x125 square base as the maximum ground dimensions as 3-star dungeons.

1-star dungeons (lairs)

a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 30 below ground level
a fixed max of 59 above ground level.

3-star Dungeons

a minimum of 10 and a maximum of 50 blocks below ground level
a minimum of 74 and a maximum of 114 above ground level (depends on the depth).

5-star Dungeons

the use 125x125x125 as maximum size, but depending on a biome they spawn in these can have any amount of blocks below and above the ground

Important Rules

In dungeon creation there are few very important rules that need to be followed. But first, lets establish what dungeons and lairs are from technical side.

Each dungeon consists of few 'rooms'. To use a simple example: entrance, gameplay room and boss room. Those rooms are connected to eachother using Plugs and sockets. Red plug is used to connect dungeon to a World Socket. More details about this in next chapters.

Rules that apply to all and every dungeon and lair:

Each dungeon should fit in required dimensions, else it will not spawn in game
Each dungeon should have one and only one Red Plug in the middle of a ground layer
Each dungeon should consist of few Gameplay rooms and a grand Boss room(s)
Each room of a dungeonr should have at least Two variations, more variety is better but not required
Each dungeon should have npc spawns, some traps, Boss spawn and Exit portal(s)
Each dungeon should fit in a biome its made for and use colors from that biome
Two jumps should be enough to pass all obstacles

Design rules and tips:

An entrance should be obvious and visible. Portal entrances are allowed, but they should remain visible
A path through a dungeon to a boss(es) should be highlighted and easy to follow, no mazes or labyrinths allowed
There needs to be a roof of Fake Air blocks above dungeon to make sure the entrance to it will never be covered by terrain
Doorways should not be less than 2 voxels wide and 3 voxels tall
Pathways and stairs should not be less than 3 voxels wide and 3 voxels tall, more is better
Pathways should not be cluttered with decorations and traps
Gameplay areas should be mostly open (no traps or hazards) with some possible NPC spawns
Quest (boss) rooms should be around 30 voxels wide and long, and no less than 6 voxels tall. They also should contain some possible NPC spawns aside from mandatory Boss spawner and be mostly open
Traps in Dungeons and lairs should be dangerous enough to challenge a player, but there should be no single-voxel pathways through traps
Maximum of 8 active traps per room (everything that is not a spike)
There must be a GM Quest Teleporter placed in same room with final boss, and a GM Quest Teleporter Outside on the outside of dungeon\lair to provide an exit
LED, Updrafts and Anti-gravity blocks are allowed to be used, but in moderate amount
Keep an eye on voxel count! Displayed as Elements in Metaforge with /debugtext command. Higher amount (orange or red) needs to be reduced

1-star Dungeon Specific rules:

There should be one or two Gameplay areas before reaching main boss, this can include a room with traps and monsters, jumping puzzle etc
Maximum is 20 active traps per entire lair
Only 5 monsters spawns occur per lair, if there are more possible NPC spawns placed, 5 will be picked randomly upon lair generation
Radiant Lairs - jumping puzzle, no monster spawns, one GM Boss Quest to trigger and 85-100 GM Dark Heart Spawn placed around the lair
Peaceful Hills sunflower lairs - jumping puzzle, not too hard. No monster spawns, no boss spawns. One lair should contain around 100 of Sunlight Bulbs

3-star Dungeon Specific rules:

There should be gameplay areas between and prior to quests
There should be one GM Boss Quest (Major Boss spawn) and two GM Quest (Minor Boss spawn) before reaching main one
Major Boss room should be at least 30 voxels wide and long and at least 10 voxels tall. It should also have a 'Grand' feel to it
Maximum is 30 active traps per entire dungeon, no more than 10 in one room
Only 25 monsters spawns occur per dungeon, if there are more possible NPC spawns placed, 25 will be picked randomly upon lair generation

5-star Dungeon Specific rules:

In the middle of a dungeon - a place that players can not miss - there should be 1 GM Master Quest - this will spawn a dark heart to start the timer
There should be at least 6 possible quest objective spawns - 5 of them will be picked at random when the dungeon is generated
All quest objectives spawns should be using GM Quest only
All quest objective locations should be at approximately same distance from GM Master Quest
Quest rooms should be at least 15 voxels wide and long
About 30+ monsters spawns occur per dungeon, if there are more possible NPC spawns placed, 30 will be picked randomly upon lair generation

Metaforge

Metaforge is Trove in-built editor. You need it to turn your dungeon from voxel model into working in-game asset.

Metaforge is used for:

To place sockets and plugs
To place decorations
To test your dungeon

To enter metaforge just type /mf or /metaforge in chat. And press YES to confirm entry. You will be placed in a world of white where dungeon magic comes to life.